For a simple and tasty work-night dinner there is nothing like a quick pasta dish. For such an occasion last week we ate a dish made with juicy, plump shrimp seared and tossed with sauteed portobellos, sliced onions, garlic, bacon, and spaghetti in a lemon-butter sauce. The dish was finished by tossing in a handful of chopped fresh parsley and a sprinkle of freshly grated parmigiano reggiano

A: mmm mmm i loves me some shrimps!T: oh my god so do i. maybe we shouldn’t be blogging while hungry. I want more shrimp. badly.A: me too! and some garlicky herby lemon-buttery pasta! i think you’re on to something t-dog. blogging while hungry is just wrong.T: yeah. and that shrimp was good. It was big, plump, cooked to perfection, seasoned to perfection. Any idea what body of water the shrimp came from?A: i believe they came from the gulf of mexico… which means they certainly are not local but… i mean, you have to get your shrimp somehow! i don’t believe there are any good local shrimp. i know all the people who only eat local are cursing me right now.T: I would imagine there might be some good shrimp a little south of here, but at the end of the day I’m just happy to have a big fat plump tasty shrimp, regardless of where it came from.A: these were quite nice! and even though it was rich with all the butter and bacon the lemon juice and garlic really brightened it up. I am going to have to give this meal a 4.23/5…. it was seriously tasty and cooked well. it just wasn’t as exciting as some of the things we eat. T: I’ll agree with that assessment. I give it a 4.52/5. Like I wuz saying the shrimp were awesome, and I liked the brightness of the dish as a whole. It was easy on the stomach, too, from an indigestion point of view.A:indigestion point of view?!? don’t you mean a digestion point of view!T: in the case of this meal it was digestion. With some meals it’s just indigestion. One more question about the shrimp… were they pricey?A: not too bad. i believe they were like 8.99/lb and i got less than a pound… pretty standard for some jumbo shrimp out here.T: well I luuvvv seafood. You can make all the seafood you want. Mmm mmm mmm mmm mmm.A: wow… now that was some serious mmming. seafood for lunch?!?T: wow, is that possible? do we have seafood?A: i did buy some red snapper that is in dire need of cooking… so YES! there is seafood to be had.T: alright, screw this post. lets do lunch!

Place a large pot of water over high heat to be used for pasta later. Heavily salt the water with kosher salt. Allow water to come to a boil.

In a large saute pan over medium heat cook the the bacon, flipping 1/2 way through cooking. Once most of the fat has rendered out remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Once cool, crumble. Pour out half of bacon fat from pan. Place pan back on stove and increase heat to medium-high.

Season the shrimp with kosher salt and black pepper on all sides. Once the pan with the bacon drippings is hot, sear the shrimp in the oil for about 90 seconds, then flip the shrimp and sear for another 90 seconds. Remove from pan with tongs and set aside.

Reduce heat below pan to medium. Add butter, sliced onions, and mushrooms to the pan. Stir. Saute onions and mushrooms for about 10-15 minutes until the onions are translucent, stirring occasionally.

Half way through sauteing the onions and mushrooms, add the spaghetti to the salted boiling water. Cook according to package.

Add the garlic to the pan with the onions. Stir. Allow garlic to saute for about 90 seconds. Add the lemon juice to the pan with the onions to deglaze, making sure to scrape up all of the bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the bacon and parsley to the pan. Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

As soon as the pasta is done, add it directly from the pot to the saute pan with the veggies using tongs. Add the shrimp to the pan as well. Toss to coat to thoroughly combine ingredients. If necessary, add a little of the water used for cooking the pasta to the pan to thin out the sauce. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. Serve immediately and sprinkle with freshly grated parmigiana reggiana as desired. Enjoy!

17 comments so far:

A few years ago I get lectured by an a**hole waiter that you are never supposed to put grated cheese on shrimp, or seafood of any kind. He actually said “I can’t be responsible for ruining your food, so I will leave the cheese here and YOU can ruin your food with it”.

And I was on a date at the time.

So thank you for confirming what I, and my Italian Grandma have always known. You can put cheese on whatever the hell you want. And it will be good.

kitty, i have heard similar – that you aren’t supposed to put cheese on seafood- but i have to say f’ that! if it taste good, it taste good. don’t bind me by some silly rules! and btw, i have a rule about front of the house staff any way – they don’t know anything! (most of the time 😉 )

thanks aria! it sucks you have an allergy! (it is a food allergy that keeps you from eating these luscious morsels, right?) you can still eat scallops though if i recall! and my oh my scallops rock!

confession. i am not a huge bacon fan. since i don’t eat pork. (don’t wince please) and when i see these recipes and all the bacon, i feel like I SHOULD eat it. but still shrimp in any form is divinity, even though they are technically bottom feeders. bleh. yum. bottom feeders.

cheila, no worries! i won’t discrimi-hate on you for not being a bacon-lover or non-pork eater. you know, most recipes you can just omit the bacon and add something else that has a smoky flavor or just a little more salt. as far as bottom feeders are concerned… i don’t really have a problem eating anything… including bottom feeders of all kinds! mmm mmm mmm, yummy bottom feeders!

Wow…cheese…shrimp…bacon…butter…garlic. If you could find a way to deep fry this and cover it in chocolate, I think this would be the perfect dish! You’d have to serve it with a free defibrillator, but man, what a way to go!

ros, they were huge! and i so agree… while california has lots of great seafood, i would hate to have to give up shrimp because i live here. i can’t wait to see what you come up with over your break.

thanks red handed! i’m sure we could figure out a way to deep fry it… and serve it with some chocolate enhanced mole dipping sauce to create the perfect dish. hmmm a croquette perhaps. 😉 i can’t help but wonder what we would do with fresh lobster too… it’s a shame we are always too broke to buy any. i’m a fool for cold water lobster!

YUM, can’t wait for the recipe. I just stumbled upon this website and am hooked!!! I live in Louisiana and have a ton of shrimp in the freezer (we buy 100 lbs at a time) and am always looking for new shrimp recipes. Can’t wait!!!! Thanks!

Hi Linda, Sorry about that! I added when to add the garlic to the recipe above. As a rule of thumb, garlic doesn’t take very long before it starts to turn brown and bitter so I will add it to the pan about 1-2 minutes before I either deglaze with a liquid or remove the pan from the heat.